Patton family sweeps awards

WAYNESFIELD — In the Northwest Central Conference girls basketball league, one family should stick out to everyone involved.

The Patton family.

Senior point guard Kaylee Patton is every teams’ worst nightmare, and her father Ted Patton, the head coach of the Waynesfield-Goshen Tigers, draws up offensive and defensive schemes to cause headaches on the other side of the scorer’s table.

This season was no different. Kaylee Patton averaged nearly 27 points per game. Ted Patton led his team to a league title.

The Tigers finished their season with a 16-8 record, losing to Marion Local in Districts.

Deservingly, Ted Patton and Kaylee Patton were named Coach of the Year and Player of the Year, respectively.

“It’s a good honor, but we obviously had to have the kids to get the job done,” Ted Patton said. “They did a really good job this year, the whole team did, I was just part of the team, and just happened to be in that position of winning the league this year to get that honor.”

Kaylee Patton has been here before, as this is her third year in a row being named NWCC Player of the year.

“Winning this award my senior year means extra to me. It’s nice having a team that won the league, and it really helps that way with voting.”

Ted Patton said despite his personal award, that did not compare to the pride he had in his daughter when she won Player of the year.

“It makes it really special having your kid win player of the year,” Ted Patton said. “Her playing as much as she did and not getting hurt, that was amazing. She never missed a game her whole four years. That’s a great accomplishment.”

Ted Patton thought about the odds that a father-daughter combination win these two awards, and said that it was almost unreal.

“It’s really special. I’m not too sure very many time’s that’s happened,” Ted Patton said. “She’s a really great ball player. It certainly helped me from my standpoint. When you have a player as good as she is, it makes it really nice.”

For Kaylee Patton, family is the reason she got into basketball. It’s the reason she loves basketball, and for her to share this honor with her father, means everything to her.

“Family has been the reason that i’ve been able to accomplish everything. Ever since I was little, we’ve been playing basketball,” Kaylee Patton said.

Patton again reflected on the season, and how well the team played. He said there was no way he gets this award if it wasn’t for every single one of them.

“The kids played hard all year,” Ted Patton said. “They were dedicated to basketball. They did everything that we asked them to do. I think as the season went through, our schedule strength was a lot stinger this year, and our kids responded well to that.”